INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED OF VIOLENT TRAFFIC STOP
Va. attorney general seeks records from police department
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said Monday that he had launched a broad civil rights probe of the police officers and department involved in a violent traffic stop of a Black Army officer.
Herring’s office said in a statement Monday that he is “deeply concerned about the traffic stop” and believes the officers’ conduct “was dangerous, unnecessary, unacceptable and avoidable.”
Herring has asked the Windsor Police Department to release personnel records of two officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario during a traffic stop.
The Attorney General’s Office is also seeking access to various complaints against the department that involve traffic stops, use of force and “treatment on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin.”
Herring’s request is the latest development arising from a federal lawsuit filed recently by Nazario against the two police officers. Videos of the December incident have drawn national attention in recent days and prompted Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to request an investigation by state police.
Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was not charged with any crime after the traffic stop, the lawsuit states.
The town of Windsor said in a statement Monday that officials “are taking actions to rebuild the public’s trust” and the police chief continues to implement training in line with state standards.
“Our goal is to always ensure transparency of our practices and procedures; we will provide information as possible, and as allowed, during the investigation,” the statement said.
Windsor officials said Sunday that department policy wasn’t followed and one of the officers, Joe Gutierrez, has since been fired.
But a lawyer for Nazario said that’s not enough and wants the other officer, Daniel Crocker, to be fired, too.
“The law requires officers to intervene if they see a violation of civil rights,” Jonathan Arthur said Monday. “We need our officers to stand up to their colleagues when their colleagues are doing this.“
No attorneys have been listed for Crocker or Gutierrez in court documents.
The incident began when Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows. He said the driver was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop,” according to the report he submitted afterward, which was included in the court filing.
Nazario drove his SUV to a well-lit gas station where, according to the lawsuit, the two officers got out of their cars and immediately drew their guns and pointed them at Nazario.
Police body camera footage shows Nazario dressed in uniform with his hands held in the air outside the driver’s side window as he told the armed officers, “I’m honestly afraid to get out.”
“Yeah, you should be!” one of the officers responded.
The officers attempted to pull Nazario out of the vehicle while he continued to keep his hands in the air. Gutierrez then stepped back and pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times as officers yelled for him to get out of the car.
Nazario got out of the vehicle and asked for a supervisor. Gutierrez responded with “knee-strikes” to his legs, knocking him to the ground, the lawsuit says. The two officers struck him multiple times, then handcuffed and interrogated him.
The traffic stop was captured on Nazario’s cellphone video, and the body-worn cameras worn by Crocker and Gutierrez, according to the lawsuit.